Tourism as a driver of economic growth and development in the EU-­27 and ASEAN regions. EU Centre in Singapore Research Brief December 2013

Tourism is a significant driver of economic and social development.  It stimulates economic growth by generating income, employment, investment and exports. It also generates valuable spin-­off benefits, including preservation of cultural heritage, improved infrastructure and local community facilities (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2013).  But, tourism can have positive or negative impacts depending on planning, development and management.        The  purpose  of  this  research  brief  is  to  demonstrate  the  economic  importance  of  tourism,   its  challenges  and  plans  for  tourism  development  in  the  EU-­‐‑271  and  ASEAN2  regions.  It   brings  together  data  from  several  sources  including  the  United  Nations  World  Tourism   Organization  (UNWTO)  and  the  World  Travel  and  Tourism  Council  (WTTC).     This  brief  is  divided  into  three  parts:      Part One describes performance of tourism sector in the  EU-­27 and ASEAN regions in terms of international tourist arrivals and receipts, contribution of tourism to GDP, employment, exports and investment.         Part Two outlines the EU-­27 and ASEAN plans for supporting tourism development while highlighting relevant initiatives.         Part three discusses some of the key challenges that accompany tourism development. It also outlines goals that policy makers should follow in making tourism more sustainable.

The GSP as a technical and psychological-symbolic tool: The case of a lateral entry teacher

One academic semester long pilot teaching-experiment on the learning of geometry was conducted with one pre-service teacher, one lateral entry teacher, and two in-service teachers. The purpose of the pilot teaching experiment was to understand how learners, who already have some knowledge of geometric objects, are able to reorganize and broaden their knowledge when using the Geometer’s Sketchpad (GSP). The guiding principle of the teaching-experiment was to use semi structured tasks especially designed for the GSP to foster the three way-interaction among the student-teacher, the GSP, and the teacher interviewer. The objective of each task was to allow each participating student-teacher the freedom to explore geometric situations, to make conjectures, and to prove them. In this article, we analyze how the lateral entry teacher, here with the pseudonym of Susan, solved a task which purpose was to investigate isosceles trapezoids and some of the properties. The analysis indicates that Susan used the GSP as a technical tool but also constituted it into a psychological-symbolic tool in the process of conceptualizing and proving some of the properties of isosceles trapezoids

Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses

Recent empirical studies have highlighted the large degree of analytic flexibility in data analysis which can lead to substantially different conclusions based on the same data set. Thus, researchers have expressed their concerns that these researcher degrees of freedom might facilitate bias and can lead to claims that do not stand the test of time. Even greater flexibility is to be expected in fields in which the primary data lend themselves to a variety of possible operationalizations. The multidimensional, temporally extended nature of speech constitutes an ideal testing ground for assessing the variability in analytic approaches, which derives not only from aspects of statistical modeling, but also from decisions regarding the quantification of the measured behavior. In the present study, we gave the same speech production data set to 46 teams of researchers and asked them to answer the same research question, resulting insubstantial variability in reported effect sizes and their interpretation. Using Bayesian meta-analytic tools, we further find little to no evidence that the observed variability can be explained by analysts’ prior beliefs, expertise or the perceived quality of their analyses. In light of this idiosyncratic variability, we recommend that researchers more transparently share details of their analysis, strengthen the link between theoretical construct and quantitative system and calibrate their (un)certainty in their conclusions

Unflattening the page: Lucian, ecphrasis, and the embodied reader

My thesis, entitled ‘Unflattening the page: Lucian, ecphrasis, and the embodied reader’ has as its main focus the ecphrastic work of Lucian, a second-century CE Syrian-Greek writer, and one of the most prolific and versatile writers of Greek imperial literature. It argues that imperial, and in particular Lucianic, ecphrasis (a vivid style of descriptive writing which aims to bring its subject matter ‘before the eyes of the reader’) might be better understood from the point of view of sensory aesthetics and embodiment. The thesis’ argument unfolds in three chapters, each of which is motivated by a particular subset of theoretical and cultural concerns. The chapters are organised thematically around the topics of ‘frames,’ ‘space,’ and ‘bodies.’ Chapter One is predominantly about the generic self- reflexivity of ecphrasis with a focus on Achilles Tatius’ novel Leucippe and Clitophon (his only surviving work) and Lucian’s De Domo and Dialogi Marini 15. It sets out to show how imperial ecphrasis taps into the sensory potential of frames, liminality, and liquidity (by which I mean liquid elements, mainly water) in order to prompt reflection on the phenomenon of ecphrasis as such. Chapters Two and Three turn the focus away from the edges of ecphrasis and on to the world contained within the ecphrastic frame. Chapter Two asks how ecphrasis does space and shows how Lucian’s use of enargeia in the Hippias and Icaromenippus can solicit bodily engagement on the part of the readers as much as it can prompt critical thinking about the role, function and effects of enargeia itself. Chapter Three moves the study of ecphrasis beyond the traditional exclusivity of objects and places and sets it in an expanding experiential arena which includes events that take place within the confines of the bedroom and in the realm of a sacred temple. Its aim is to understand how ecphrasis conjures up the sexual body on the page. It shows how ecphrasis and enargeia, as tropes that activate somatic modes of attention, can provide a very powerful framework for an embodied approach to the sexual imagery in the Onos and Amores. A brief conclusion reflects on the value of developing a sensuous theory of ecphrasis as well as on the implications this project has for the study of imperial ecphrasis more broadly and the field of classics in general.George & Marie Vergottis & Magdalene Leslie Wilson Scholarship (awarded by the Cambridge Trust), A.G. Leventis Foundation Scholarshi

Complementarity of European RIS Territories Towards Manufacturing Educational Products

International audienceEurope is in a position where the complementarity of the workforce in terms of competences and skills is able to produce a high added value for industry. The need for technologies absorption, digitalization and innovation increase dictate a change in the training products, so that every single country is benefited and utilized, simultaneously. Thus, collaborative educational and training programs can be standardized. This is a roadmap towards such a holistic design, taking advantage of the functionalities of RIS hubs that have been established in EU RIS countries. A framework of five phases is presented involving RIS hubs as well as the complementary skills of the stakeholders

R2d2 drives selfish sweeps in the house mouse

A selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved in recent adaptations in many species. In contrast, much debate but little evidence addresses whether "selfish" genes are capable of fixation - thereby leaving signatures identical to classical selective sweeps - despite being neutral or deleterious to organismal fitness. We previously described R2d2, a large copy-number variant that causes nonrandom segregation of mouse Chromosome 2 in females due to meiotic drive. Here we show population-genetic data consistent with a selfish sweep driven by alleles of R2d2 with high copy number (R2d2) in natural populations. We replicate this finding in multiple closed breeding populations from six outbred backgrounds segregating for R2d2 alleles. We find that R2d2 rapidly increases in frequency, and in most cases becomes fixed in significantly fewer generations than can be explained by genetic drift. R2d2 is also associated with significantly reduced litter sizes in heterozygous mothers, making it a true selfish allele. Our data provide direct evidence of populations actively undergoing selfish sweeps, and demonstrate that meiotic drive can rapidly alter the genomic landscape in favor of mutations with neutral or even negative effects on overall Darwinian fitness. Further study will reveal the incidence of selfish sweeps, and will elucidate the relative contributions of selfish genes, adaptation and genetic drift to evolution

Trusts. A Comparative Study.

International audienceA selective sweep is the result of strong positive selection driving newly occurring or standing genetic variants to fixation, and can dramatically alter the pattern and distribution of allelic diversity in a population. Population-level sequencing data have enabled discoveries of selective sweeps associated with genes involved in recent adaptations in many species. In contrast, much debate but little evidence addresses whether "selfish" genes are capable of fixation-thereby leaving signatures identical to classical selective sweeps-despite being neutral or deleterious to organismal fitness. We previously described R2d2, a large copy-number variant that causes nonrandom segregation of mouse Chromosome 2 in females due to meiotic drive. Here we show population-genetic data consistent with a selfish sweep driven by alleles of R2d2 with high copy number (R2d2(HC)) in natural populations. We replicate this finding in multiple closed breeding populations from six outbred backgrounds segregating for R2d2 alleles. We find that R2d2(HC) rapidly increases in frequency, and in most cases becomes fixed in significantly fewer generations than can be explained by genetic drift. R2d2(HC) is also associated with significantly reduced litter sizes in heterozygous mothers, making it a true selfish allele. Our data provide direct evidence of populations actively undergoing selfish sweeps, and demonstrate that meiotic drive can rapidly alter the genomic landscape in favor of mutations with neutral or even negative effects on overall Darwinian fitness. Further study will reveal the incidence of selfish sweeps, and will elucidate the relative contributions of selfish genes, adaptation and genetic drift to evolution